Once again music gets the blame

[Cpt Blue Skin]

I dont think people should be carrying firearms to go outdoors to town etc -
but having said that -  I have known woman (in america) who have avoided
being mugged or raped because they were able to pull a gun and scare the
attackers off long enough to get to safety.

I certainly do believe that a homeowner should have the right to have a
registered weapon for self defense and should have the right to use that
weapon if someone breaks into their home.  Not like here in Australia where
if someone breaks into your home (even if they are armed) and you
practically have to hand them a questionaire to determine whether or not
they are actually breaking in with intent to harm you or just to rob you
before you are able to defend yourself - AND EVEN THEN you still might end
up being charged.



------------------------------------------------
Cpt Blue Skin

----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Mather <paul at GROMIT.DLIB.VT.EDU>
To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 1:11 AM
Subject: Re: Once again music gets the blame


> On Wed, Jan 08, 2003 at 01:18:54PM +0000, Andy Ball wrote:
> => I'd rather live here in London/UK where gun crime is still lower per
year
> => than any week in a major US city.
> => And that's not counting "accidental" shootings or people just "losing
it".
> => I'm all for the current ban on handguns in the UK.
> => Letting the public carry firearms is not going to lower gun crime in
the UK.
> => Yes, I agree that polititians have some silly knee jerk reactions , but
> => also people over react and scaremonger.
> =>
> => Andy,
> =>
> => London UK, and not living in fear of being shot on my door step.
>
> Before Xmas, I saw at my local cinema what I think is an interesting
> and thought-provoking film: BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE.  Your mention of
> "scaremongering" and "living in fear" made me think of this film, as
> it's one of the themes that arises.  One of the things noted during
> the film is that whilst gun crime has actually decreased about 20% in
> the USA over the last few years, reporting of it has *increased* about
> 600%, giving people the impression things are getting much worse.
> Plus, that reporting tends to be skewed towards certain ethnic groups,
> setting up various reinforced lines of distrust.  Jumpy, scared people
> with guns is not a good thing. :-)
>
> One interesting point raised in the film is that although many other
> countries around the world have much the same circumstances as the USA
> (e.g., availability of guns; bloody historical past; watch violent
> films; play violent video games), for some reason those other
> countries are not killing themselves at the same rate as the USA: tens
> or hundreds of deaths per year vs. many thousands.  In particular, the
> film highlights Canada, which has about the same ethnic mix and guns
> per capita as the USA, yet has only a fraction of the gun deaths (plus
> they don't lock their doors;).
>
> So, the root cause must lie somewhere other than guns or violent
> films, music, and video games: perhaps it is something innately
> cultural, but what?  I don't know, but, like I said, it's thought
> provoking.  Don't buy the fear hype.  Remember, as Sir Paul
> McCartney reminds us, "it's getting better all the time." :-)
>
> Perform a reality check.  The next time someone tells you "it's not
> safe to walk the streets," or "illegal immigrants are flooding the
> country," or similar doom and gloom, ask yourself when was the last
> time you or someone you know was a victim of crime on the street, or,
> if the country is "flooded" with them, why haven't you or anyone you
> know actually met an illegal immigrant personally. :-)
>
> Info about "Bowling For Columbine" can be found via
> http://www.michaelmoore.com.  It's actually a really humourous film
> quite a bit of the time (and very sombre at others)---the animated
> "brief history of the USA" segment narrated by the talking bullet is
> hilarious, IMHO.  Go to see the film if you can.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Paul.
>
> e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu
>
> "Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production
>  deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
>         --- Frank Vincent Zappa